In celebration of Mother’s Day, Evelyn Lozada and her daughter Shaniece Hairston appear on the cover of Rolling Out Magazine’s May issue. Although the interview appeared to start out as a typical mother-daughter interview, things got very emotional once Shaniece expressed how proud of her mother she was for her decision to exit her abusive relationship with former Miami Dolphin star Chad Ochocinco. Check out a little bit of what the ladies had to say below.

On Evelyn leaving Chad following the assault:

Shaniece: When she left her domestic abuse relationship, I was really proud of her. I felt like she stood up for herself, and I think that she set a good example for other women. I knew that she had it in her, but I don’t think that everyone else did, so I’m really proud of her for that.[…] Yeah, she knows … and we’ve been together since then.”

Evelyn: We were literally together for eight months since that happened [crying] … I even slept with her. After everything happened, and my life was upside down, it was tough because I had to live all of that out in the public … everybody had an opinion, and even now I’m sure there will be some people who say “b—-, you’re still crying over that?” … but she went through that with me from the beginning. She went to the hospital with me.

Shaniece: It was crazy, because I wasn’t even supposed to be there. I was living in L.A. and she was living in Miami, and I just happened to be there when it happened.

Evelyn: She was on vacation, and she was home when the situation happened, and it was very humiliating for me to have her see me like that. It was probably one of the biggest low points of my life — especially because I’m so protective of her. I’m mom, and I’m supposed to be strong, so it was hard to have her see me like that … so we were literally connected at the hip from that point on.

Shaniece: I think that it made us closer. Strangely, I didn’t think that we could get any closer, but I think that the situation made us grow closer.

Evelyn: It was a great feeling to have her there, and to not have her judge me, or be negative, because during that time period, there was just so much negativity. But there was also a tremendous outpouring of support from fans and from women who have gone through the same things. I had women who came to me and said that I encouraged them to leave their own relationships. So for me, I couldn’t have been any more thankful to have her there with me. She makes me feel safe.

On their tight bond:

Evelyn: I think from an early age, one of the things that I tried to instill in her is that she could come to me for anything. I got pregnant with Shaniece when I was 16, and even though I love my mom to death, I wasn’t always comfortable going to her and talking to her about things. With Shaniece, I wanted to do things differently so that she could come to me. When you’re a teenager, and you’re going to your friends for advice, they aren’t going to necessarily give you the right advice, so I wanted to make sure that the lines of communication were always open with us. I wanted her to always know that no matter what the situation, I was never going to judge her, and would always be there for her.”